Green chutes

The country’s $1.25 billion fundraising is hard to square with its palm-oil and coal exports. Issuers with the least eco-conscious credentials, though, are also important to lure onto the bandwagon with financial incentives. It’s the various shades of green that are awkward.

Context News

The Republic of Indonesia on Feb. 23 issued the world's first Islamic green bond from a sovereign issuer, a $1.25 billion five-year dollar-denominated sukuk priced at 3.75 percent.

Green bond issuance totaled $157 billion last year, according to data from the Climate Bond Initiative.

A Moody’s analysis of the data noted there were an additional $14 billion of bonds labeled green that did not conform to CBI criteria in 2017. Bonds where more than 5 percent of proceeds were allocated to non-green uses were excluded, as were ones financing projects that did not adhere to Climate Bond Standards, such as clean coal.